As the iGaming market in the UK has become increasingly vast and diversified, it has also become harder for players to stay safe when wagering online.
Of course, you can always learn more about safeguarding yourself and your bankroll by reading this page on scams.info, but there remains a huge emphasis on individual responsibility as people must be proactive in protecting themselves when wagering online.
So, as the online gambling yield in the UK peaks at $5.89 billion, what steps can you take to stay safe at your online casino of choice?
- Check to See That the Platform is Licensed
Let’s start with the basics as you should never wager at an online casino unless this has been fully licensed and regulated by the necessary body.
In the UK, for example, all reputable and trustworthy casinos will have been fully accredited by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), which is the authority responsible for creating and upholding the market’s regulatory framework.
This entity also made the safeguarding of vulnerable players its core strategic objective back in 2018, and this has triggered a wide range of stringent regulatory measures that made the relevant licensing criteria even tighter.
If an operator has been licensed by the UKGC, it’s legally required to display the accreditation on their website along with the address of their headquarters and the details of any other affiliations.
If you’re unsure, you can also use this official government resource to see if an online casino or its parent company is fully licensed, helping to inform your decisions definitively over time.
If you find a business online that isn’t licensed, you can also report this to the authorities to ensure that other players aren’t tricked into wagering their hard-earned cash through an unregulated and unsafe platform.
- Manage Your Bankroll Carefully
When we talk about staying safe at an online casino, we must recognise that there’s more than one type of threat.
In addition to the risk posed by rogue operators and unlicensed platforms, for example, you may also develop compulsive gambling behaviours and encounter a scenario where you spend more than you can comfortably afford.
You can also safeguard yourself in some part by managing your bankroll carefully, initially by creating a fixed amount to wager over the course of the typical day, week, or month.
Your bankroll can then be distributed accordingly, with your self-imposed limits creating a clearly defined threshold that should enable you to always wager responsibly.
You can even take a more granular approach when sports betting, by developing a core wagering strategy that stipulates how much you should stake on each selection.
As a rule, this will mean establishing a fixed betting unit at the outset, which can be multiplied to increase your stake in a manageable and considered way depending on the value proposition of each wager.
Generally, this will see you minimise your stake when betting on outside selections with lengthy odds, as a way of reducing the increased risk of loss. Conversely, you’ll wager more when backing shorter-odds selections with a higher probability of winning, with a view to optimising returns over time.
- Choose a Safe and Convenient Payment Method
On a final note, it’s also important that you take steps to safeguard the integrity of every single deposit or withdrawal that you complete online.
Of course, reputable casino platforms are secured to some degree or another by 128-bit SSL encryption, but it never hurts to be extra careful when selecting payment methods at online casinos.
You’ll also want to choose a payment method that’s convenient, so that you can comfortably make payments and transfer money safely (and seamlessly) between different accounts.
The reason for this is simple, as while bank transfer is arguably the best and safest method of wagering money online, it can take several working days to deposit and withdraw funds through this option. Similarly, not all operators offer this method to players, so you may need to seek out secure but more viable alternatives.
A good alternative is your Visa debit card, which is linked to your bank account but can usually process instant deposits and withdraws in no more than three days. This also encourages you to wager responsibility and you’re spending your hard-earned cash.
PayPal and other trusted e-wallets are also sensible selections, with these platforms incredibly secure and capable of processing withdrawals within 24 hours.
